2. • All the films are tense in some way at the
start. They give off negative feelings about
the events taking place, like in Nightmare
on Elm Street, it starts with heavy
breathing, quietness, footsteps, traditional
things that you’d expect to hear in a horror
film that puts the audience on edge.
3. • Night of the Living Dead starts to be tense
even with the credits and company logos are
being presented. The music creates tension as
it helps the audience be prepared to be
terrified out of their skins. Sounds outburst
occasionally, signalling that there are
unexpected moments in the film.
4. • 28 Days Later starts to be scary right from the
first second. Immediately, there is fast camera
movement and panic, and that tells the
audience that this film is seriously frightening,
as we see footage of the public in crowds of
chaos as the angry zombie-like people start to
attack anyone they can.
5. • Even though the other films are filmed professionally, the
Paranormal Activity series is filmed from the point of view of
the actors, as if the events actually happened. But the second
film is only scary for a few seconds at the very beginning, as a
white text glowing green appears on the screen, telling the
audience about the deceased and the police department of
the hometown of the people. So it makes the audience
question why there are deceased people in this film, and what
happened to them that killed them.
6. • Another similarity with the films
is that we don’t know where the
cause of the problem came
from. Like in Nightmare on Elm
Street, all we know is that the
villain created a claw weapon
thing, and then there’s this
random girl running from him.
We don’t have any idea what
made him a villain, all we know
is that he’s out looking to
scare/kill someone.
7. • In Night of the Living Dead, we don’t know where
the zombies have come from; we don’t know if
it’s some sort of disease or a scientific experiment
gone wrong. All we know is that the zombies
somehow spread their unknown virus when
attacking others, and we can only stop them by
decapitating them or shooting them in the head.
8. • In 28 Days Later, we don’t
know where this rage virus
comes from, but we know
that scientists have failed to
cure whatever it is. The
ones with the rage virus are
very similar to zombies by
the way they act and the
way the virus is spread.
Some people call them
zombies, except they’re not,
they’re just very angry
people with a blood virus.
9. • In Paranormal Activity 2, we don’t know where this
ghost demon thing has come from, and why it’s
stalking these two sisters. The only thing we know is
that it can hurt them, possess them, kill them and
scare them to death. We don’t know what it wants,
but what we do know is that it would kill anyone
who gets in it’s way to get it.
10. TECHNICAL CODES
Camera Work
• In the first two deconstructions, I noticed that some of the camera work
was quite similar. I noticed tracking shots, such as in Nightmare on Elm
Street where we track the villain’s feet at the start, and in Night of the Living
Dead where we track the moving car at some points.
• There’re also some high angles where the camera looks down on
something, like in Nightmare on Elm Street where the camera is looking
down at the man picking up some materials to make his glove thing. It also
happens in Night of the Living Dead, where the car is driving into the
graveyard. Also in 28 Days Later, the camera looks down on the monkey
that is pinned down to the operating table, showing us that it is captivated
and cannot escape. Also when the people walk into the room with the
cages, the camera is pointing down so we can see that there are lots of
them and where the people are walking. So this camera angle shows us
what is meant to be the main focus.
• The camera work in Paranormal Activity is different from the others, as it’s
all from the point of view of the people as they’re using a handheld camera.
This creates the vibe that all of the footage is real life, so this makes the
audience believe what id going on.
11. TECHNICAL CODES
Editing
• In the first, third and fourth deconstructions, all of
the editing is the same. They only consist of jump
cuts, whether they’re seconds later or maybe a few
minutes. There are not any special transitions, they
only go from one and straight to the other.
• Only in Night of the Living Dead are any special
transitions, as they all fade in and out from one to
the other, as though indicating to the audience that
a little bit of time is passing between each shot that
is taken.
12. TECHNICAL CODES
Sound
• The first three deconstructions, I noticed, have some scary sounds
in the first two minutes. It isn’t music as such, although it might be
ominous drones of one tone. In Nightmare on Elm Street, the
majority of the time you can hear heavy breathing of an old man,
and that is a traditional sound to have in a horror film, trying to
raise the hairs on your arms or give you goose bumps.
In Night of the Living Dead, we hear droning tones as the title and
company industry logos are being presented, with the occasional
sudden high note of violins, etc. This indicates that the film could
have some unexpected moments in it that make the audience
jump, so this creates the tension.
Lastly, in 28 Days Later, The first noise we hear is distortion of radio
signals, screams of petrified crowds, sirens, crackling fires,
gunshots, as panic spreads all over the location we’re in.
• Because Paranormal Activity is filmed differently from the previous
films that I deconstructed, the sounds are only of the people
talking.
13. TECHNICAL CODES
Mise-en-Scene
• In my opinion, none of the scenery are similar.
Nightmare on Elm Street starts in what we assume
to be some sort of basement when we see the
villain. Night of the Living Dead begins outside in
the middle of nowhere when the car is on its
journey. 28 Days Later begins in something like a
laboratory when we see the pinned monkey. And
Paranormal Activity 2 starts in a street, a built up
area where the people live.
14. So in all of the films, we see a few similarities
to do with the openings, tension, how the
villains create questions in the viewers
mind and the four technical codes.
